The Witch and Heroine of Oz
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: We know what happened when Dorothy came to Oz. We know what happened before Elphaba pretended to die. But now Dorothy is 25 and she's found her way back to Oz. Feeling guilty about murdering Nessa and Elphaba, she wants to make things right. Enjoy!
1. Prologue: Red Shoes

**Hi! I've just been reading another story about Dorothy going back to Oz and this time seeing Elphaba's true colours, without the death of Nessarose turning them wicked. I'm now trying my hand at one too. Twenty-five-year-old Dot is in for a surprise!**

I kicked off my crimson heels and relclined on my sofa, switching on the TV to watch some of the cute little cartoon shorts. Even at twenty-five, I still loved those. The only person that knows is my partner, Matt, who came in five minutes later

"Hey, Dot. How was your day?" he asked, giving me a peck on the lips, as usual. I smiled at him.

"Tiring. Those shoes are also so hard to walk in. How was yours?"

"Why do you wear those shoes, then?" Matt asked, avoiding my own question.

I guess I should explain. Ever since I was a girl, I'd always liked red shoes. It was after I got caught in a twister. My aunt and uncle told me they thought I was going to die when they found I had gotten hit in the head by a window that had gotten loose. I had a vivid dream about going to a magical land called Oz, when I had to go on a quest where I realized the importance of home. On my arrival, I was given a pair of sparkly red shoes from a witch who was crushed underneath my house. I got attached to red shoes after that, even more so since the witch's sister nearly killed me just to get the shoes herself.

That's something I feel a little guilty about. I killed both of the sisters. My house accidentally landed on one, and I accidentally threw water on the other, and it made her melt. Sure, it helped me get home, but I'd just murdered her sister, and all she wanted was a memento of her sister's life, which happened to be her shoes.

Back to the conversation. "I've told you about my childhood dream." I said to Matt. "Oz is pretty close to my heart, even though it's not real." I sighed and added "Probably..." under my breath. I still half-believed that Oz was real.

Matt laughed. "Well, Dot, Oz is part of what I love about you. Your story is so amazing. I still remember everything about it. But it's also pretty wild. You told me the farmhands on your farm when you were a kid inspired those friends you met, but what about the witches in it?"

I sighed. "I wondered about a place where troubles 'melted like lemon drops', over the rainbow." I explained. "I was sure Oz was over the rainbow. But I don't know why no trouble meant I nearly got killed."

"You told me you melted the Wicked Witch of the-what was it again?" Matt asked, eyes sparkling the way they did when he thought of something humourous or inspired.

"West." I answered. "She was the one with green skin."

"Anyway, she was one of your troubles in your dream, wasn't she?" Matt reasoned. "And she melted like a lemon drop."

I chuckled. "Maybe." I grew melancholy. "Sometimes I wish it was real. Then I could go back, maybe pay respects to both witches I killed. I also miss my friends-I miss Glinda too. But how can I miss someone in a dream?"

Matt laughed. "Dot, you're reading too much into it. But the main thing is, your complaining about those ruby heels is driving me crazy. So maybe it's time to let go of your childhood dreams and move on."

I smiled at Matt. He didn't really understand my shoe fetish, but he was right. I couldn't find any sensible red shoes, so I made do with high heels. I needed to start wearing shoes that didn't hurt me.

I couldn't sleep that night. I lay awake, thinking about Oz. Mainly the two witches I killed. The Wicked Witch of the East was the one I crushed with my house and the one whose shoes appeared on my feet, which I was sure was something to do with Glinda. After all, she was the only one who could've transported the shoes onto my feet without my realizing. The Wicked Witch of the West was the sister, who tried to kill me to get the shoes and avenge her sister's death. As a child, I was only terrified of her, but as I got older, I realized why she had gone so crazy over the shoes. If only Oz was real, I could go back and ask to go to their graves-or place of death, and apologize to them.

Then a crazy thought entered my mind. I got up and slid my feet into the shoes that looked the most like the shoes I got in Oz-sparkly, with little heels and pointy toes. Then I closed my eyes and kept thinking to myself nearly the exact same phrase I'd used to go home, just changing it to Oz.

"Glinda, if you're listening, please help me come back to Oz." I murmured. "There's no place like Oz, there's no place like Oz..." Before long, I started feeling dizzy. A vision came into my mind, of my old house spinning through the cyclone and landing in Oz. I remembered my dog and childhood best friend, Toto. Some of my adventures of Oz swirled through my mind. Most of all, the words _Wicked _and _Good _spun through my head, although I didn't know why. Maybe it was because good and wicked were the only things black and white in Oz.

Finally, I opened my eyes. I stood on the yellow brick road. Just ahead was my old house. And when I stepped forward, I saw an inscription carved on the house:

_House of Dorothy Gale of Kansas_

_Oz's heroine_

_She will always be welcome here-All of Oz_

**Well, that's my prologue. Read and Review! I'll give you cookies in the shape of Wicked merchandise *coughimaginarycough*. But seriously, I want to know what people think, even if you hate it.**


	2. Chapter 1: Glinda

**OK, I'm back! Oh, I forgot, I own nothing from _Wicked _or _The Wizard of Oz. _And thank you so much for your reviews, Isabella Faye Graycin, Elphaba-goodwitchofthewest16, FaeTheDevoutScholar, xFroggyFernyCabbagex, SmileYou'reWICKED, Hercules3000, and GoodWitchesOfOz. Seven reviews for 1 chapter is a record for me!**

Wow. I had landed next to my childhood home. This brought back so much nostalgia, good and bad.

Munchkinland didn't seem too different from the first time I'd been here. In fact, so much colour nearly blinded me. As a child, I'd loved it. Now...it just seemed a little too colourful to be real. But then again, I thought, Oz was a different world where everything was colourful. But right now, I had one thing to do. There were two witches I had killed, and it was time to apologize to the first.

I walked up to the house and crouched down. "I never knew you." I said out loud. "All I heard was that you were the Wicked Witch of the East. But although I didn't know much at the time, I apologize for crushing you with my house and taking your shoes. I didn't actually mean to steal them, just they were so pretty, and Glinda told me not to take them off, and when your sister couldn't touch them without getting an electric shock, I was too scared to try to take them off. I'm really sorry."

With that, I turned around and walked off. Then I remembered I had my cellphone with me. I wondered if it would work.

When I turned it on, I had a text. It said: _Welcome to Oz! Once someone has been notified of your arrival, you will be greeted._

I raised my eyebrows, but accepted it. After all, this was Oz. The inscription said I would always be welcome here.

GLINDA'S POV

My cellphone buzzed, signaling I had a text: _A new arrival to Oz-go to Munchkinland ASAP._

I smiled brightly to myself. I loved meeting new people. So I got my bubble and took off to Munchkinland.

I recognized the person standing there. She was thirteen years more mature, taller, and more sure of herself, but the woman glancing at her own cell was none other than Dorothy Gale, the girl that had melted my best friend and landed her house on her sister. Oh well, I suppose she didn't mean any harm.

DOT'S POV

I recognized the bubble floating towards me, as it grew, and finally popped. Glinda looked exactly the same as she always had.

I smiled nervously at her, wondering if she'd recognize me. "Hello." I said.

She returned my smile. "Hello. I think I remember you. Dorothy, isn't it?"

"I go by Dot now." I said quickly. "My name went out of style quite quickly."

"Well, it's lovely that you're back, Dot!" Glinda said brightly, giving me a hug. "My, you have grown into a lovely young woman. How old are you now?"

"Twenty-five." I answered. "How has Oz been since I left?"

"Oh, wonderful!" Glinda said in her usual perky voice. "Everyone was sad that the Wizard left, but I've taken over power. And everyone is thrilled that you killed both the Wicked Witches. You're a legend here!"

"Yes..." I said, my smile fading. "That's one reason I wanted to come back. I feel so guilty about murdering both of them, and I wanted to personally apologize. I have just apologized to..." I gestured towards the house.

Glinda went all serious. "Well, that's good of you. After all, neither of them were nice people."

"But no one deserves death." I pointed out. "This woman hadn't done a thing to me, and I crushed her and took her shoes. As for the other witch, she just wanted her sister's shoes. She had every right to be mad at me for taking them. That doesn't make what she did right." I added. "But I wanted to apologize to her too. Meaning, I want to go to the place of her death and apologize there, just as I have here."

For the first time since I'd ever seen here, Glinda had a serious and almost stern look on her face. "You are not going to the West." she said as if it was a law. "There are certain dangers of it that you do not know of."

"I've been to the West and back as a child." I pointed out. "If I got out alive then, I'll get out alive now. I'm not a child any more."

"Are you really going to apologize for murdering the witch who tried to murder you?"  
"Just because she shouldn't have done that, it doesn't give me the right to do that to her." I was getting annoyed with the good witch. If I had to walk again, I would. It wouldn't take me that long.

"I'm going to go to the West and apologize for what I did." I said, with a hint of defiance. "No one is going to stop me."

Glinda looked more disappointed than strict now. Clearly no one had decided to disregard her words before. "I suppose I understand." she said softly. "I risked everything to reconcile with my best friend just before her death. Just to show how much I understand," she added, "I'll get you there faster." She waved her silver wand, and another bubble appeared.

"Wha-" I began. Glinda laughed melodically.

"That's the first time I've managed to create my method of transportation for someone else." she smiled. "If you step into the bubble, it will take you straight to the west."

I tentatively stepped straight through the wall of the bubble and inside it. "Thank you!" I called, as the bubble began to fly up. Glinda waved goodbye.

The view was amazing. I could see the path the yellow brick road paved (minus the poppy field) and the Emerald City further south. In the North, a beautiful pink sparkly palace stood. I remembered Glinda saying she was the Witch of the North. Munchkinland was in the East, where I had come from, and right now, I was heading to the darkest part of Oz, the West.

When the bubble touched onto the ground, it popped, and I was standing in front of the castle. I shivered, staring at the place that housed my childhood nightmares. Finally, I took a deep breath, and began to walk in.

**OK, I promise Elphaba will appear in the next chapter. Keep reviewing, please, it helps me update!**


	3. Chapter 2: Castle

**I'm back. On with the chapter. Thanks for reviews, FaeTheDevoutScholar, Hercules3000, splattermusic and SmileYou'reWICKED. The disclaimer, unfortunately, is still in effect.**

As a little girl, I was terrified when I first entered this castle. I was still scared now, even though I wasn't being kidnapped into the highest room by flying monkeys with blue fur. The memory of that time still made me tremble.

The castle was much too quiet. I was too scared to go much further in, so I knelt down a few metres inside to apologize. I even closed my eyes, trying to communicate to the afterlife.

"I know you'd hate to know I was here in Oz again, because I wasn't exactly nice to you. I mean, I accidentally killed your sister and stole her shoes, then I melted you and took your broomstick. That's why I'm here, to apologize for my actions. I honestly didn't mean to kill your sister, and the shoes just appeared on my feet, and I couldn't take them off. I didn't mean to kill you, either, just you set Scarecrow on fire, and a bucket of water was nearby, and I'm sorry some of the water hit you. As for the broomstick, the Wizard said he'd only let me go home if I brought him your broomstick. I'm very sorry."

I opened my eyes, just as footsteps sounded. I stood up, rooted to the spot in fear, as the figure turned the corner.

It was the Wicked Witch, the one I'd 'melted' all those years ago.

I didn't move. I was far too scared for my brain to work, even though I knew the logical thing was to run for it.

The Witch advanced on me. "You!" Her eyes held fire. "Why are you back here?"

She recognized me, damn. There was no hope I'd get out here alive now. I managed to stutter out "I wanted to apologize for everything I did all those years ago. But I thought you were dead."

She cackled. "Everyone thought water melted me. Obviously you have no more sense than you did years ago. Why would anyone melt?"

"Well...well..." The words stuck in my throat. "You're not like everyone else!" I blurted out. "You have green skin! You're wicked! Everyone says so!"

The Witch scowled. "You assume I'm wicked just because I have green skin? Don't you think that's quite racist?"

I stopped and stared. I hadn't thought of that. But there was one more back-up to her being wicked. "You locked me up and planned to kill me just for those ruby slippers!" I accused. "I was only young."

"They were my sister's shoes. You had no right to take them!" the Witch yelled at me. "They were rightfully mine!"

"How did you know I was here?" I suddenly asked.

"Your little speech wasn't that quiet." she snapped. "And it wasn't enough." The doors suddenly shut and locked. I ran to the doors immediately, but it was no use. I couldn't get out.

"Why are you doing this?" I cried. "All I'm doing is trying to make things right!"

"If you leave, you'll tell people I'm alive! Besides, I'm going to finish what I started."

I stood, pressed against the door, trembling. She'd kill me for sure now.

"You're going to kill me?" I whispered.

Her eyes narrowed. "No. But you're not leaving here." She took my elbow harshly and led me to the dark room the monkeys had flown me up to last time.

"What are you going to do to me?" I managed to ask. It came out whiny, which I hadn't intended. "I don't even have the shoes anymore!"

"I'm not asking for them." the Witch answered coldly. "I told you already, no one can know I'm alive! I'm not going to do anything."

"I won't tell anyone!" I pleaded. "Please, just let me go!"

"What makes you think I'd trust you on anything?" she sneered, closing and locking the door behind her. The room was exactly how I remembered it-even with the crystal ball in the corner that she'd taunted me with, using a vision of my Auntie Em calling for me, then herself mocking me.

The Witch sat down in a chair and motioned for me to do the same. I gave her a confused look but obeyed. "Why did you decide to appear when you knew I was here if no one can know you're alive?" I asked impulsively. She didn't answer. "I don't understand what you're trying to do." I murmured.

"No one does." the Witch answered. "If anyone did, most people wouldn't think I'm wicked and I wouldn't have had to fake my own death." She sighed at this. "It also caused my best and only friend so much pain to pretend I was dead, but if I hadn't, she would have gotten hurt too."

I remembered something Glinda had said. "_I risked everything to reconcile with my best friend just before her death." _But surely the Witch wasn't the best friend? No, it was impossible. I dismissed the stupid thought.

I folded my arms. "So if I'm stuck here, what am I supposed to do?" I demanded.

The Witch shrugged. "Don't ask me. I didn't exactly decide that you should be locked up. You were the one who walked in."

"How was I to know you were still alive?" I answered. "I assumed this was abandoned. Why was the door open?"

The Witch just scowled. I sighed. There was silence for a moment until I blurted out "What time is it? I'm not familiar with Ozian time schedules." A second later I realized how weird that sounded and blushed.

The Witch laughed, but this time it wasn't a cackle, more like a giggle. It threw me, I'll admit. I wasn't expecting that her regular laugh wasn't a witch's cackle. "It's ten pm." she told me. About three hours before the time I got here at home.

I tried for a friendly smile, feeling that I'd been able to start melting the ice around the relationship, and I wondered if it would possibly develop into friendship. "If I'm stuck here for the rest of my life, we should probably try to get along." I said reasonably. I held out my hand. "For lack of an original greeting, I'm Dorothy Cassandra Tree, but you can call me Dot, everyone does."

The Witch hesitantly shook my hand, although she looked strangely shy. "If we're starting over, I'm Elphaba." she told me. That gave me a surprise, too. I hadn't expected her to actually have a name, although considering that the Witch of the North had a name, why shouldn't she?

I grinned at Elphaba. "Well, it looks like we might actually be able to get along this time."

**I'm not sure who'll like this chapter, since I've made Elphaba very cold for most of this. Promise they'll get along eventually. Tell me if the characters are acting too OOC. And of course, review and you'll all get virtual tops with "Popular" or "Defying Gravity" on them.**


	4. Chapter 3: Dreams

**Here I am, back with the fourth chapter. Disclaimer is still there, sadly. Thanks for reviews, FaeTheDevoutScholar, splattermusic, Chocahollics, SmileYou'reWICKED, xFroggyFernyCabbagex, Queen of the Elementals 09 (No, it's not too late- I'll even throw in a virtual "For Good" top), Saz and Hercules3000. Oh, and just so you know, this will not take anything from the books, since I haven't read them.**

**By the way, I know green skin isn't a race. I'm just referring to the fact that Dorothy makes assumptions going by Elphaba's skin.**

ELPHABA'S POV

It's so strange. The little girl who came to Oz years ago couldn't be more different from the young woman before me now. She seems to actually have a conscience now. I wouldn't have expected the young Dorothy to apologize properly for killing me. The Dorothy I first met said "I didn't mean to kill her" and that was it. It seems like Dot is a different person altogether-yet, I can sense traces of the little girl she was in her.

She kept trying to smile after she introduced herself properly. I couldn't bring myself to smile back at her, even though she was trying so hard. She brings back so many of my memories, most notably saying goodbye to Glinda for the last time. Just as I told Dot, it wasn't safe for Glinda to know I was alive.

"So..." said the young woman across from me. There was a pause before she giggled. "Awkward."

I nodded. We didn't have much to say to each other. She didn't have much to say, and I sure as hell wasn't saying anything either. I mean, what would I say? "Oh, my life has been just wonderful, hiding out with my partner, pretending I'm not even alive. Plus I miss Glinda and Animals all over Oz still have no speech." Yeah, right! At least no other Animals are losing speech. Ever since Glinda took over from the Wizard and had Morrible thrown into jail, she's made sure Animals are treated the way they should be.

"You know, I apologized to your sister for killing her too." I broke out of my thoughts as Dot spoke. "I went to the place where she died." she explained, "And I apologized the same way I did for you. I also apologized for taking her shoes."

That gave me a little shock, but it also made me smile a little. "If she was alive, I'm sure she would've appreciated it, her being who she was."

"Can I ask..." Dot said shyly, "Who was she?"

She was giving me more surprises by the second. But I answered. "My little sister wasn't exactly wicked. Her name was Nessarose, and before her life ended, she was the Governor of Munchkinland. She was driven to doing some wicked things by her fear of being alone and her love for a munchkin called Boq, who only had love for Glinda."

DOT'S POV

My head spun. For one thing, I'd never assumed the two wicked witches from Oz had names. I thought Elphaba's name fitted her. It was unusual and wild, to say the least. I wondered if Nessarose had fitted her name as well. It gave me the adjectives "pretty" and "dainty"-possibly "fragile". I sighed. "Sorry, again."

Elphaba gave a nod, but her face was unreadable. "Do you mind if I leave you here for the night?" she asked in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Like I said, I'm not letting you leave."

While I didn't fear death here, I was still pretty scared of the green-skinned woman, so I said "Yes."

Elphaba left the room, tossing a "See you tomorrow" over her shoulder as she closed and locked the door, leaving me.

I admit, I cried a little after she left. This wasn't supposed to happen. After thirteen years, I get locked up in the same place, possibly never to leave. The only difference was the motive. Last time it was sentimentality and revenge, this time it was want for secrecy.

I decided I better get some sleep if I wanted to be able to face the morning, but it took a long time. When I eventually drifted off, I had nightmares of my childhood in this room.

I half-knew I was dreaming, saying to myself _I can control this if I concentrate, I can control it. _And eventually I was able to get out of the fear, and though I still dreamed of Oz, I was reliving my meeting with my friends, and being greeted by Glinda.

Then my dream changed aruptly. Now I seemed to be watching a real-life musical where two teenage girls were. One was sitting on a bed, while the other was singing a peppy song. I couldn't make out the words, my dream being fuzzy, but I could see she was wearing pink, and the other girl wore black.

The rest of my dreams were just flashes of images, but they all seemed to include the teenage girls, sitting in class, wandering around a familiar city, doing strange dance moves at a club...all the time, music was playing, usually upbeat. I didn't get what had put these two into my head.

Finally, just as the girls walked away from each other, one of them turned to look in my directon, the black-dressed one. For a moment, she smiled bitterly, and then gave me a look of disappointment. "You don't know what's happening?" she said. "You'll soon work it out." Suddenly, the dream zeroed in on one thing that hadn't captured my notice before. The girl had green skin.

After that, I slipped into dreamlessness.

ELPHABA'S POV

I knew she'd have nightmares. But I didn't want to risk her getting out of the castle. Tomorrow I'd explain everything to her-well, not everything. I'm going to leave Glinda out of this as much as I can, but it might not be possible to leave her out altogether. Dot deserves to know why she's staying here, if nothing else. She also deserves to know more about what happened behind the scenes when she first came to Oz, why I'm so mad at her. I have better control on my anger than I did the first time we met, but that doesn't mean I'm not still mad at her. Although, I'd have to try to remember that she was a clueless child then.

Tomorrow, the truth will come out.

**Next chapter: Elphaba tells Dot about what really happened. Possibly some more characters make their appearance. Stay tuned!**

**Review for Ozdust Boutique items *coughimaginarycough* and for where you want this story to go! Sorry for the absence of Fiyero so far. He will appear in the next chapter, promise.**


	5. Chapter 4: Explanation

**Another chapter, another day. Thanks for all your reviews, SunRise19, Helena E. Bartone, SmileYou'reWICKED, GoodWitchesOfOz, FaeTheDevoutScholar, Hercules3000, I. Dont. Walk. I. Glide, and QueenOfTheElementals09. Read on!**

DOT'S POV

I was jolted out of my dreamless sleep by a tap on the door. "Dot, are you awake?" The events of the previous evening flooded back. I was back in Oz. I'd been captured-was that even the right word-by the Witch, whose name was Elphaba.

"Yes." I answered. Elphaba opened the door.

"Come on." she said. "It's time you learnt what the reality of my history was." I followed her out of the door and through the castle, before we stopped at a door.

"Wait out here for a moment." Elphaba instructed, before going in herself. I heard her talking to someone. The answer was said in a strangely familiar voice.

"Dot, you can come in." Elphaba called at last. I stepped through the door-and stopped short. There was the last person I expected.

"Dorothy Gale?"

"Scarecrow?" I whispered, just finding my voice. "Now I've seen everything." I managed to say shakily. "Why are you here?"

Scarecrow looked at the floor guiltily, but answered. "I wasn't entirely honest when I met you. I knew what was really going on in Oz-"

"I'm not asking you that." I interrupted. "How are you mixed up in this?"

It was Elphaba who answered me. "He's kind of my husband."

Well, I wasn't exactly expecting to hear that. I was so taken aback this time that I couldn't say a word. I was frozen to the spot. My mind went into overdrive, whispering over and over _What the-one of my closest friends from Oz is with my nemesis from Oz, who possibly isn't my nemesis any more?_

ELPHABA'S POV

Dot was speechless. I knew she was going to be. "I assume you would like an explanation?" I stated. She nodded shyly.

"OK." I said. "This might take a while. About four years before you came along, I started at Shiz University, with my little sister, Nessarose. You would remember I told you her name yesterday evening. Anyway, we met-" I gestured to Fiyero. "Back then he was human, a Winkie prince called Fiyero."

Dot spoke. "OK. I'll try to remember that." She shook her head. "Why didn't I ask about that when we first met?" She realized she was speaking then and said quickly "Sorry. Go on."

I gave her a nod. "We didn't meet on the best of terms." I said, remembering the way we met. It made me scowl a little. "He nearly ran me over and then said 'maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go'. I thought he was shallow and thoughtless and...brainless. We slowly became friends. My best friend Galinda was dating him, and stuff happened. Anyway, quite soon after, I was invited to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. That was around the time Galinda changed her name. To Glinda."

DOT'S POV

That made me gasp. "You...and...Glinda..." I stuttered.

Elphaba met my gaze and said "Yes. The same Glinda the Good. But the important thing is, it turned out the Wizard was behind all I wanted to fight for. You will recall the Lion that was your friend?" I nodded. "He was an Animal. Your dog Toto was an animal." She said the same word differently. "The difference is Animals, like the Lion, can speak, and animals cannot. However, the Wizard was working behind the scenes to make them all like animals, so they wouldn't be able to speak out, I don't know why. But I decided to fight the Wizard with all I had, so everyone in Oz thought I was wicked."

This made sense. Apart from locking me up and trying to kill me, I'd never really heard of anything else she'd done that earned her that name.

I gave a shy smile. "Well, I don't believe you're wicked, as such. No one's perfect." I pointed out.

Elphaba returned my smile, though it was small. "Thanks. After I locked you up, that really does mean a lot."

I glanced at the floor. "Well, I deserved it. I should have at least tried to take those shoes off. I'm sorry I don't have them anymore, otherwise I would have given them to you."

Elphaba didn't seem to care. "It wasn't really the shoes themselves. It was the fact that they belonged to my sister. Nessa was my top priority as a teenager, and I loved her a lot."

The mood had turned melancholy. Finally, I spoke again. "So, what's been going on in Oz since I left?"

"We don't really go any further into Oz." Fiyero explained. "Otherwise people would know we're alive. Well, I'm OK, since I don't exactly look the way I did as a human, but everyone would freak if they knew the so-called nemesis of Oz is alive." He said the last words in a tone that would have looked like wincing if it was movement.

I remembered my dream at that moment. "Um," I said nervously. "I wanted to ask. I had a dream about two girls, and at the end, one of them said I'd soon know what was going on, and she had green skin. She was wearing black, and she was always with a blonde girl who often wore pink. I wondered if that meant anything to you?"

Elphaba looked a little shocked, but answered "That sounds like me before I decided to fight the Wizard. Me and Glinda, although she was Galinda then."

There was one more question I had left that I could ask. "So now what is happening? Do you still try to keep the other Animals the way they are now?"

"Well," Elphaba admitted, "There's not really much point now. Glinda's ruling, and she lets Animals speak out, like the Lion friend you had." A glance passed between her and Fiyero. I caught the look, but didn't ask.

"Well," I said. "What's going to happen today?"

**Well, I'm stuck now. Damn writers block! I need reviewers to help me with the ideas.**


	6. Chapter 5: Matt

**OK, I'm back. Here's the next chapter. Sunrise19, I'm going to take your idea about Matt, and thanks for your review on the last chapter. Other review shout-outs are to '., FaeTheDevout-Scholar and Hercules3000. Oh, by the way, the whole Glinda-creates-a-bubble-transformation-for-others came from a review on Youtube for the _Wizard of Oz_ Book vs Movie, which I recommend.**

There was an awkward silence. That was, until my cellphone began playing its ringtone. "_When I was little, I thought I would be...a big comedian on late ni-"_

"Hello, Dorothy Trees speaking."

"Dot? Where are you?" I could hear Matt's voice through the phone.

I got a surprise. How was he calling? "Matt, calm down, I'm OK."

"Look, something weird just happened. I'm standing in front of a house and it looks like how you described that world-Oz." Matt said, sounding shaken.

"Matt, don't worry." I said. "I'm in Oz at this moment, so you are too. Does the house have my maiden name on it? If it does, Glinda should turn up in about two minutes. I'm in the West."

"What? If this is Oz, shouldn't the West be dark and gloomy? Why would you want to go there?"

"I can't explain over the phone." I answered. "Tell Glinda I'm still here, and I'm OK. Love you, bye." I rang off before Matt could answer.

Elphaba and Fiyero were obviously waiting for an explanation. "That was my partner, Matt. For some reason, he got here too."  
Elphaba was annoyed, I could tell. "Why did you specifically mention you were here? If he comes here, one more person will know I'm alive."

I scowled a little. "Who are either of us going to tell? You know, you didn't have to trap me here. Matt will feel the same way if I tell him. And if you're not wicked, which I sincerely believe you aren't, what is the problem with people knowing you're alive?"

Our voices were getting more heated. "Because for one thing, it destroys everything I stood for!" Elphaba snapped at me. "There is a reason why I made Glinda promise not to clear my name, and then made her think I was dead. Everyone would panic if they knew I was alive without that-well, apart from Glinda herself. It's pure protection."

"But what if I promise not to tell?" I suggested.

Elphaba shook her head. "No. Anything could happen. What if something happened in Oz after I let you go, and you were forced to tell? It's possible."

MATT'S POV

_So Oz is real_. I was still trying to get this thought through my head when the pink bubble I remembered from Dot's stories floated down. It popped to reveal someone who could only be Glinda.

She approached me, with an almost saccharine smile. "Hello." she greeted me.

"Um, hello." I said awkwardly. "Um..." Well, how was I supposed to react? "I'm-my name's Matt. I, um-was someone else here? A woman, with red shoes and dark hair-"

Glinda smiled again. "Oh, you mean Dorothy-oh, she goes by Dot now, doesn't she? Yes, she was here. She went to the West-it's called Kiamo Ko."

"I know." I answered. "I called her, and she said that she was OK and to also come to the West. I was wondering-"

"Yes," Glinda interrupted, "If you want, I can transport you there like I got Dot there. It's a long way to walk." And with that, she summoned a bubble for me to travel in. I thanked her and stepped in.

The view of Oz was amazing. From Munchkinland, I could see the Yellow Brick Road Dot travelled along, and beyond that, the Emerald City, which was more dazzling than I'd imagined.

And I was travelling to a dark gloomy place, just as I'd imagined the West. Most of Oz seemed surreal and colourful, but the West was colourless. The bubble set me down in front of a castle.

DOT'S POV

I spotted Matt being set down in front of the castle through the tiny window. I turned to Fiyero and Elphaba. "He's here." I said. We'd actually discussed what I'd do. He could decide whether to stay here, knowing Elphaba was alive, or leave and not know.

"How do you get to the entrance?" I asked. Elphaba stood.

"Here, I'll show you." she said. I followed her to the staircase, and then she left me to go further just where you couldn't see her at the entrance. I knew she was watching what was happening. I'd already seen that she was the type of person not to trust anyone too easily. She was still doubtful that I'd stay if I had any chance to escape.

Matt was standing at the entrance. I smiled encouragingly at him. "Hi, Matt." I said. "Um...how are you finding Oz?"

Matt paused. "I met Glinda." he said finally. "She seems...nice."

"She's OK." I said. "Anyway, this is really serious. Matt, I'm not going to leave this castle. I can't tell you why, not yet, anyway. You have two choices. You can stay free and not know why, or you can know and stay here."

"Why can't I know otherwise?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"Well," Matt paused. "Dot, when we got married, I promised our lives to be interwoven, just as you did. I did this because I didn't want to live without you. If that means I'm in this dark castle for the rest of my life, so be it."

At that moment, the doors swung shut and locked. Matt jumped.

"Don't freak." I said. "I did when I was here, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. Matt," I took a deep breath. "As you remembered, I was thought to have killed the witches of the East and West."

"Yes, you-wait, thought?"

I nodded. "One of them was still alive, and she wasn't wicked. It turned out she wasn't allergic to water." I called out "Elphaba?"

Her footsteps sounded, as she reached the foot of the stairs. "Hello." she said. When Matt didn't speak, eyes fixed on her, she sighed. "What?" she demanded in an irritated tone. "Did Dot forget to mention my skin colour, or what?"

**This chapter is completed, and all thanks to my reviewers! You got me writing again.**


	7. Chapter 6: Note

**I'm back, with this chapter in tow. Thanks for reviews, FaeTheDevoutScholar, broadwayfanatic1, kaykay844, SunRise19, niceman5476 and '.. Oh, and for broadwayfanatic1, Brr will turn up, but I'm not yet sure when.**

**Dot: Um, did you ever use the disclaimer?**

**Me: Yes, you wanna say anything? It's still in effect! I'm not Gregory Maguire, L. Frank Baum, Steven Schartz, or Winnie Holzman, so I did not create any of these characters...except Matt. And I recreated Dot's personality. And this is in Dot's POV, in case it's getting confusing.**

I nudged Matt. "Stop staring at her." I hissed. "Say something."

Matt finally spoke. "Um, hello. Sorry if I was staring. It's just-"

"I've told him about my first visit to Oz." I said, taking over. "It's kind of awkward." I paused before speaking again. "OK, I guess it's explanation time."

Elphaba sighed. "OK, I guess I'll have to explain it all over again. When Dot came to Oz for the first time, she crushed my younger sister and walked off with her shoes. As it would do to anyone, it made me mad. Last time I'd seen my sister, we'd parted on less than friendly terms. Now I wanted revenge for her death and her shoes as a momento of her, so I locked up Dot and tried to take the shoes. When she threw the water on me, I didn't melt. It was a complete rumour the people had made up, and it protected me. Everyone thought I was dead, but what I really did was go through a trapdoor. And since then, I've lived here."

Matt was as shell-shocked as I had been earlier. Finally, he spoke. "So, what's next?"

I knew it was my turn to speak. "I came here to apologize to Elphaba for killing her, before I found out I hadn't really. She heard me apologizing, and I ended up seeing her. Since no one in Oz is allowed to know she's alive, and anything could happen, I not ever leaving this castle. So, Matt, I'm sorry, but that means you aren't either." I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

The explanations went on. I introduced Matt and Fiyero as well, and from then on, life started going routine for some time.

I wasn't locked up in the same room again. There were a few spare rooms in the castle, and I shared one with Matt. During the day, there wasn't much to do. I could've gone anywhere in the castle, but I preferred to stay in familiar ground, as well as it wasn't the room I was locked up in as a little girl.

Most of the time I just spent talking.

"How can you stand being stuck in the castle all day, every day?" I asked at the end of a week. "It's been thirteen years for you, and already I feel like I'm going insane!"

Elphaba shrugged. "I've learned to live with it." she replied. "I have to." Her statement made me feel like a whiny little kid, complaining cause I couldn't go out to play.

I gave a sigh. "I'll just have to learn to live with it too. After all, if you can do this, so can I." A thought struck me. "I've just thought of something! Shouldn't I go home? I wouldn't be able to tell Oz you're alive there! Oz doesn't exist there."

Elphaba gave a little smile. "Well, I had kind of thought about that. The thing is, I did feel guilty about the way I treated you before. I did go overboard, although I still had some issues with you as a little girl. But, by explaining why I reacted that way, I feel as if I'm settling the score."

"But you've already explained." I pointed out. Then I thought of something else. "Well...I don't really want to leave yet. There's still a lot of things in Oz that I want to know of. I don't want to not be able to talk to you and Fiyero. Although..."

Matt walked in. "Hi, Dot. Hi, Elphaba." After a week of being here, Matt still hadn't adjusted to the life, well, not how I had. He was a little freaked by the fact that essentially we were living with a green woman with magic and a scarecrow, although they were both exactly the same as regular people internally. He tried to deal with it as if it was normal for him, although when it was just Matt and me, he confessed that he wasn't exactly comfortable with it. "I mean, you seem fine with it, but how can you do this? How can you be OK with someone who tried to kill you?"

"Because I understand her." I answered. "From her explanations, I doubt she'd try to hurt me that much again. Besides, you forget that Fiyero is here. Even though he didn't tell me the exact truth when we first met, I still count him as a friend."

"Hey, Matt." I said now. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Matt shrugged.

Suddenly, I realized something. "Hey, where's Fiyero? I haven't seen him all day."

Matt shrugged again, but then Elphaba's eyes widened. "I haven't seen him either. He wasn't around this morning. I'd usually have seen him at least once by now." She rushed out of the room.

"This isn't good." I muttered. I hoped this wasn't going to be a big thing. Suddenly, I got a text from my cell. I had a look.

_Dot, I gt ur numba. Hope u dnt mind. r u ok in kiamo ko? Call me. Numba shud b attached 2 the txt. -Glinda _(_Dot, I got your number. Hope you don't mind. Are you OK in Kiamo Ko? Call me. Number should be attached to the text-Glinda.)_

"Could she have picked a worse time to text?" I groaned. "What am I supposed to tell her? That her best friend is actually alive and I'm not supposed to tell her that because it's not safe if Oz knows she knows because someone might use it against her? As if we don't have enough problems, considering Fiyero has completely disappeared."

"He's probably still in the castle." Matt pointed out, just as Elphaba walked back in, looking distressed.

"Think it's the more pessimistic choice." I muttered.

"He's not anywhere in the castle." Elphaba said, trying to stay calm. "This isn't good."

"So what can we do?" I asked.

"I found this note." Elphaba said, holding out a note. I took it and read it.

"_You want your straw partner back? It's you or him. Yes, Elphaba Thropp, I know you're alive. And the Animals will suffer too. Be forewarned. Come to the Emerald City tomorrow if you don't want that._

I gasped. "Who did this?"

Elphaba scowled. "I remember that handwriting. It's Madame Morrible. She must be out of prison. She would do something like this." I remembered from what she had told me was that Madame Morrible was the driving force behind the Wizard and the one who sent the tornado that brought me here and killed Nessarose. Glinda had sent her to jail.

"You mean she still wants you dead, after thirteen years?" I asked. "Can't we save Fiyero and the Animals without you getting hurt? Oh, and by the way-" I held up my cellphone. "I just got a text. From Glinda. What should I say?"

Elphaba thought for a moment. Finally she said "Well, it looks like Glinda will have to help us. We'll need someone who's on the side of the citizens. I suppose you'll have to tell her. Call her back and explain the situation." I nodded and dialed the number.

Glinda picked up straight away. "Dot?"

"Hi, Glinda." I said nervously. "I'm in Kiamo Ko, and I'm totally fine. Um. I've got some news. You have to come here as soon as possible, please, there's trouble, and we really need your help."

Glinda seemed happy to do that. "Of course!" she said happily over the phone. "I'll be there in two minutes." And she hung up.

**Glinda and Elphaba reunite next chapter! I at last decided to get a real plot going, and I'm sorry if this seems cliché. I also have an upcoming re-insertation into my story with some more characters, so stay tuned! Review, please!**


	8. Chapter 0: Writer's Block

**Sorry, this isn't a chapter. I just thought I'd come up with a creative thing for why I have writers block for this story.**

THIRD POV

_Kiamo Ko_

"Why do we have to be frozen in time?" Matt complained like a little kid.

"We're just gonna have to deal with it." Dot reasoned. "We're frozen because SideshowJazz1 has writer's block."

"Actually, she has other stories to deal with." Elphaba said, with a scowl. "She gets inspired and just has to start on another story. Like she was still writing her story about _Lord Of The Flies _when she started writing a post-_Spirited Away _story about these two teenage girls."

Dot sighed. "Well, at least you're in most of her stories. I'm not in any, apart from her one about your adopted sister, and in that I'm a little girl who doesn't seem to have any sense of right and wrong. Was I really like that the first time I came to Oz?"  
Elphaba nodded, with a faint smile. "You were. Worse, in fact."

Matt laughed. "Dot, I can't imagine you like that. But then, we only met when you were eighteen."

The light mood faded, and Dot sighed. "I wish SideshowJazz1 would update. We have to find Fiyero, and I wish Glinda would get here."

_Emerald City_

Glinda had just found a note that said: _You won't be ruling for long. The Animals will not be talking for much longer. Just a heads up, Glinda The Good._

"This is unfair." she complained out loud. "Dot wants my help, and I'm being threatened. But I can't do anything for as long as SideshowJazz1 doesn't know what to write."

No one in Oz was active. Fiyero didn't appear to be anywhere, Madame Morrible was out of jail and pleased with her plan, next plotting to get rid of Glinda and her morals, and as for Dot, Matt and Elphaba, they were worried. If only there was a way for the story to work without a writer!

_Kiamo Ko_

"What is wrong with SideshowJazz1?" Matt sighed for the fifty-sixth time. "Why can't she write? Can't she come and tell us?"

"Are you talking about me?" A girl of about sixteen stepped out of the shadows. She had short dark blonde hair and a heart-shaped face. She wore a formal blue-green uniform. This girl was SideshowJazz1. "I'm not inspired for this story because I can't get enough reviews for my other stories. I'm writing a _Simpsons _story, and a _Carmen Sandiego _story, and a _Hairspray _story, and a _Wizard of Oz _story, and another _Wicked _story-" She smirked. "What about you three? Mind reading them?"

"Are you going to update?" Elphaba asked. "I don't want to read all these for nothing."

SideshowJazz1 smiled at her. "Don't worry, Elphaba, I'll update as soon as I can. That is, if you read two of my stories in progress. What about _Enchanting Pixie _and _Being The Oldest? _Matt, could you take _Dot 'n' Jax _and _Younger Sisters_? And Dot, I'd just like you to read _Welcome To The 60s."_

"Well," Dot said slowly, "If you'll update this story, I'll read."

SideshowJazz1 smiled, then looked out to the readers. "OK. Review what you think about my way of saying 'I have writer's block' and I'll try to update. I've thought a bit more about what's happened to Fiyero now!"

**I mean that. I'll find it easier to update if you review this. Know it's short, but I thought I owed it to my loyal reviewers.**


	9. Chapter 7: Plan

**Happy to be back, and as promised, Glinda comes back. Thank you for your reviews, Silent Fire Light, .Walk., and Sunrise19 from the actual last chapter, and for the writers block, Hercules3000, James Birdsong, Quincey- the epic, and SailorSea.**

As Glinda promised, it didn't take long for her to arrive, and within thirty seconds, I could see her pink-tinted bubble floating into Kiamo Ko.

"Should I go first?" I asked. "Or maybe we should all greet her."

Elphaba nodded. "Although she'll definitely be mad at me for not telling her I was alive all this time."

I was the first to slip to the entrance of the castle to greet Glinda. "Hi." I said.

"Hello!" she answered. "So what's the problem?"

I hesitated, then I said "Well...there's kind of something you didn't know. Come in." Glinda stepped into the castle, where, beyond the entrance, Elphaba was standing, with Matt a little way off.

GLINDA'S POV

I couldn't help my gasp escaping. "Elphie?"

My best friend, who I had thought was dead, smiled wanly. "Hi, Glinda."

"Oh my Oz!" I exclaimed, bouncing over to hug her. "What happened? I thought you were dead!" Suddenly, it kicked in and I realized how mad I was at her for leaving me by myself. "And also," I said, my tone turning annoyed, "How could you do that to me? Leaving me! It's been thirteen years, and all that time, I'd done everything I could! WHY DID YOU NOT LET ME KNOW YOU WERE ALIVE?" I shrieked.

Dot spoke again. "Glinda...let her explain."

I wasn't in the mood to be reasonable, but I stepped back and said "Fine. Start explaining."

Elphie (**A/N: I'm always going to use her nickname in Glinda's POV**) began to speak. "Well, I didn't think it would be safe if you knew. What if the opposing people knew that you knew I was alive? Then you'd lose popularity and Oz would probably turn against you, because you were letting Oz's hugest enemy live free."

"But I could've told everyone the real story!" I exclaimed.

My friend shook her head. "It wouldn't have helped. Again, you'd lose popularity. They wouldn't have believed you. Remember, you promised not to clear my name. It was better for me to live here without people everywhere hunting me down."

DOT'S POV

Even though I'd known that Elphaba and Glinda were best friends, it was still a little strange to watch them interacting as so. The first time I'd come to Oz, they hadn't really interacted with each other at all, save a few comments. I knew that as much as I'd learned over my time in Oz, there was still a lot of the story left out.

"It's hard to believe two people that different could be best friends, huh?" Matt whispered to me.

"It's harder when you've seen them before differently." I whispered back. "How did you read my mind?"

"I didn't." Matt told me. "It's just as hard when you haven't seen them before."

"So what's the deal?" Glinda was asking.

I spoke up. "Fiyero disappeared. We found a note that said it's Elphaba or him, and the Animals will get hurt."

"I think it was Morrible." Elphaba said. "Has she escaped from prison?"

Glinda looked anxious. "She got parole." she explained. "She may have no fashion sense, but she has real sense, and got off for good behaviour."

"Now she's making trouble again." Elphaba sighed. "What are we going to do this time?"

Glinda gave a tiny smile. "Well, I think I know why you wanted my help now. OK, so we need a plan of attack for tomorrow."

I spoke up. "The note said to come to the Emerald City tomorrow."

"Wait." Glinda said. "I think someone told me the Grimmerie was taken. I'm not completely sure...I've been having vivid dreams that seem real recently. But maybe the Grimmerie plays a part in this. We have to be prepared for that."

"What's the Grimmerie?" Matt asked, voicing my own question.

"It's a spellbook." Elphaba explained. "When I pretended to die-"

"You gave it to me." Glinda finished. "I've started learning to read it, but it's still pretty hard."

I thought for a moment. "From what you've told me, I don't trust that anything will come out of going to the Emerald City-"

I was cut off by a call from outside. "Elphaba? Elphaba? Are you there?"

Elphaba gasped and we looked outside. A brunette woman in a wheelchair was wheeling towards the door.

"_Nessa?"_ gasped Elphaba. I stopped short. Nessa as in Nessarose?

"I thought she was dead!" I whispered to Matt.

"She's the sister?" Matt whispered back.

By this time, Nessarose had wheeled herself inside. "I was brought back to get information. Someone cast a spell to bring me back from the dead and use me to get information about you. What's happened-" she broke off when she saw me. Her eyes were fixed on my shoes. They narrowed. "Are those my shoes?"

I shook my head. "I just like these shoes and they look like...yours." I muttered, looking down.

Her eyes slitted. She understood why I'd have shoes that looked like hers. "You were the one who killed me and took my shoes?"

Glinda stepped forward. "I gave her the shoes, Nessa! She didn't take them."

"I'm sorry." I said quickly. "I know it won't bring your shoes back, but I don't know what else to do."

Nessarose seemed to calm down a little bit at this, but she still scowled at this. "Let me get this straight. Elphaba, I saw what happened all those years ago when I got killed. I got to Heaven. So I saw what happened. So what has happened that stopped you being furious at her? Glinda, how did you get here without people knowing? And who is this?" She pointed at Matt.

"She came here to apologize." Elphaba said. "She said she apologized to you too."

Nessarose looked thoughtful. "Yes, I remember that. It happened about a week ago." Suddenly she stopped. "I never caught your name." she said suddenly.

"It's Dorothy, but I prefer Dot." I answered. "Oh, and this is my partner, Matt."

Nessarose nodded. "I came to warn you anyway. Like I said, some people brought me back. They said they were working for someone that wanted you dead, Elphaba. They also want to kill Glinda next because they want to rule." Glinda gasped as Nessarose continued. "No doubt they'll try to kill Dot if they find out she's working with you. But anyway, they said they've used bait."

Elphaba nodded grimly. "Fiyero."

Nessarose nodded. "Yes, I had to tell them that you loved him. But I couldn't really betray my own sister in that way, and that's why I'm here. They don't have him. He's probably still here, but they've done something by using the Grimmerie."

**Haha, I'm leaving it here! Don't worry, Fiyero will be back at some point. And I've wanted to get Nessarose in the story, so it's great to have her back in. Magic will fix everything! Yayyy! Review...oh, and tell me what you think is really happening to Fiyero. Can you trust everything Elphaba's little sister says?**


	10. Chapter 8: Action

**Well, back and ready to write. Thanks for reviewing, James Birdsong, Loverofgoodliterature, Little-miss-laughs-alot, ComingAndGoingByBubble and SunRise19!**

"What 'thing'?" I asked in curiosity. "Like some kind of invisibility with all senses, like not just visual, but auditory and kinesthetic?"

"If there's a spell for that, I haven't found it." Glinda said. "I've been trying to read that thing for thirteen years, and I'm only about a quarter of the way through."

Elphaba was silent for a moment. Then she nodded. "I remember that spell. Just give me a moment to remember the exact words..." Then she started chanting. I'd never seen anyone try casting a spell before, but now I had, I was amazed. It was such a strange experience. I could almost feel the power, and it was overwhelming. In fact, I did something that I knew I was prone to. I passed out.

Voices came back to me. "It's only been a couple minutes. She'll be OK." I recognized Matt's voice.

I heard a dark chuckle. "I didn't know the Grimmerie was that overwhelming."

"Give her a chance. The nearest she got to seeing magic last time was having a pair of shoes appear on her feet."

"I still want those back."

"Dot?" I mustered the strength to open my eyes. I could see everyone looking at me.

I smiled. "Sorry. I have a tendency to faint when I feel overwhelmed. Did you get it done?" I asked.

I heard a laugh by the door. "I'm right here." I turned to see Fiyero was there, completely OK.

Elphaba smiled. "It worked."

I smiled. "That's great."

"There's more urgent things to attend to." Nessarose said darkly. "All of you are under threat. They haven't told me much, but I'm sure I can help."

"I've got an idea." I said. "We need as many Ozians as possible on our side. That means we need admired people."

"You're perfect!" Glinda exclaimed. "Everyone thought you were wonderful for 'melting' Elphie."

"I'm actually really glad that was a fake." I remarked. "I wouldn't have met everyone in their true colours. Even though leaving the castle and staying in Oz isn't really an option. Glinda, you're a public figure, too. You'll have to help."

Nessarose surveyed the rest of us. "OK. Glinda, Dot, you're going to be our public voice. Matt, you should stay. Elphaba, you and I can't appear until our names are cleared, if ever. Fiyero...I don't know about your public image."

"No one connects his Scarecrow appearance with the so-called traitor." Glinda said. "So he's basically a hero, having been a friend of Dot's."

"OK, so he's with us." I said happily. "What do we do, though? Nessarose, what _have _they told you?"

"Let me think." she answered. "And you should call me Nessa, anyway. My whole name always takes too long." She was silent for a moment, and then said "They said something about forging a note from an old enemy, making it seem like her writing. She's dead or something."

"The note...I recognized the writing." Elphaba said, picking the note up. She scrutinized it. "Yes, I see it. This wasn't from Madame Morrible, after all. It was someone else."

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "So who would know that you were alive?" I wondered out loud. "This is why we're gonna need a public image. I need to put on some kind of image. Submissive. I was a naïve little girl last time I was here. That could work to my advantage. But I can't say I'm with you, Glinda, since they want you gone."

"They'll want me to come back." Nessa said. "I've got an idea. Dot, you should come with me to them, and I'll tell them that you think Glinda's rule is nowhere near competent and you hate Elphaba because she locked you up as a kid and all that jazz."

I cast an apologetic glance at Elphaba, who sent me one straight back. Then Matt spoke up. "Why don't I join you?"

I frowned a little. Elphaba shook her head. "They won't trust you like they'll trust Dot. They know nothing of you, but everyone knows who Dot is."

"It looks like it's just us, then." I said. Nessa led the way, and we were in an uneasy silence.

Finally, I said "I'm really sorry about...that thing years ago."

"I know you are." Nessa replied. "It doesn't help much, though."

"I know."

It was not the most pleasant walk in the world. Nessa was still pretty distant with me. I understood, but it was very hard for me to like her. Yet it would be wrong of me to dislike her, since she did have reason to be cold, even if I had apologized. Maybe we'd have a better relationship once I'd kept Oz peaceful, and maybe clear the names of the innocent people.

I remembered the forest we passed through. I kept a lookout for anyone. Maybe one of my other friends from Oz would be here...not that I knew if they were friend or foe anymore, but I suspected that they would still be a friend to me, whatever position they held now.

At that moment, I heard a rustle. I glanced around, and then I saw a glint of metal, in between a couple of leaves.

**I feel awful for leaving this story for so long, but I didn't know what to write. Now I'm back. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! By the way, there's a poll on my profile, so please vote on it!**


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